Mechanical spader



Sept. 29, 1931. T. R. CURRY MECHANICAL SPADER Filed June 28,' 1930 2Sheets-Sheet l T. R. CURRY Sept. 29, 1931.

MECHANICAL SPADER Filed June. 28, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 7am-MM www@wy-T' Patented Sept. 29, 1931 UNITED .STATES PATENT OFFICE TAYLOR R.CURRY, OF PBOPHETSTOWN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO DORA R.

' CURBY, OF PROPHETSTOWN, ILLINOIS MECHANICAL sPADER ApplicationI led.Tune 28, 1930. Serial No. 464,610.

construction, I have personallyv observed that in road making suchmanual spading is not only laborious and expensive, but is frequentlyunreliable and is usually a source of much eXtra expense incident to theresulting necessity of repairing uneven edge cientlfy surfaces, airpockets and honeycomb faces along the edges of a -concrete road afterthe forms are removed. Such patchingis more or lessunsightly and asource of weakness and is to be avoided as much as possible.

The present usual system is'to have a man on each side of the pavementwith a No. 2

shovel spading next to the form with an up and down motion. Often theywill miss a space completely, being unable to see the result of theirWork, thus leavingA a honey-V comb or air Apocket as above mentioned.

Improper workmanship will produce theA same results. Such conditionsrequire `the services of a man to go back after the forms have beenremoved to repair or patch the concrete. j j

The ideaof this invention is to spade or trowel the sides of the lroadin a more perfect manner and automatically and by power means, therebysaving the services of the three men formerly required for spading andrepair work.

The main objects are to provide an auto-V matic mechanical methodadapted for accomplishing the spading requirements etliand economically;to provide means there or adapted for power operation and subject tomanual control; to provide attachments on the sides of a concretespreading machine adapted to spade or tamp the concrete along the innerside of the edge form shortly in advance of the spreader machine; tolprovide for automatic lifting of the spader or riding thereof overresistant objects in the concrete; to provide for manual raising andsetting of the spader in elevated position when the spader is4 desiredto be out of service; and to'provide a rotary disk spader of such formand design as to best effect the desired result, namely, the removal ofthe coarser blocks of stone away from the form, and the replacementthereof by the smaller particles'and by neat cement or grout. Y

VThis invention is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is mainly a Side view of the front part of the concrete spreaderor finisher machine and the right hand spader mounted thereon, thecorresponding wheel of the spreader and the hub of the spader diskcontactingwith and riding upon the top edge of the concrete road edgeform or mold, and the spreader plate being omitted.

Fig. 2 isa plan of a right forward end of a concrete spreader and thecorresponding spader mounted thereon.

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section through he spader substantially onthe line 3-3 of Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line 4 4 of Fig. l,with the spreader plate in place.

.Fig 5 is a plan of a modilied form of spadermounting frame with thespader disk shown in horizontal axial section.

Fig. 6 is a side-view of a modified form of spader mounted substantiallyas in Fig. 1, except that it is non-rotary.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings, Figures l to 4, the device here showncomprises la usual form of concrete spreader and finisher il comprisingaframe l mounted on flanged Wheels 2 for riding forwardly upon the curbmolds or edge forms 3, in combination with a pair of forwardly disposedspaders 4 mounted one on each side of the machine at its forwardcorners.

Each discoidal spader 4 is carried by a vertically adjustable forwardlyprojecting frame or bracket comprising a rigid strut 5 in combinationwith a lifting lever (i having control toggle means including lever 7and link 8. Said link 8 is pivoted to a. perforated block 9 which ridesupon the lever 6 centrally of the latter and bears against a helicalspring 10 concentric with lever 6. Said spring bears at its opposite endagainst a perforated block 11 which is pivoted at 12 on bracket 13. Saidbracket 13 is fixed on frame 1, and said rod G is slidable through block11. The projecting` rearward end 14 of lever 6 serves as a handle forraising and lowering the disk 4.

The rearward end of bracket 5 is pivotally connected at 15 to frame 1 toaccommodate tilting for raising and lowering the spader. A transverseshaft 16 is mounted on the for Yard end of strut 5 between its arms 5for supporting disk 4 rotatably, together with the roller or hub lnember17, which rides upon the form 3. wThe middle part of disk 4 is urgedagainst one end of hub roller 17 by means of a helical compressionspring 20. The roller 17 has a iange 22 on its outer end. In using thespader the flange 22 rides along against the outer side of the form 3and disk 4 against the inner side, and as will be apparent from Fig. 3.The disc 4 is concave toward the form 3 and convex toward the concrete25. Said disk is minierously perforated as at 26.

The liftingr lever 6 is pivoted at 28 to bracket 5 and handle lever 7 ispivoted at 29 to the lever G. Pivot 30 serves to connect the togglejoint members 7 and 8 medially of lever 7.

In using the machine above described, the spaders 4 are lowered intoplace. The con- .crete is spread roughly in place ahead of the machineand the spader-s travelling on the edge forms 3 work it into placeuniformly against the molds. Finally the finisher plate 33 smooths theentire surface ready for setting. As the spader advances it works thecoarser material away from the form and lets finer material take itsplace. If an irresistable obstruction is met the disk 4 rides over it.rllhe toggles 7-8 and spring 10 acting in compression tend .normally tourge the spader downward.

Whenever desired the spader may be raised manually by lifting lever 7and so releasing toggles 7 8 and then depressing the handle 14. rIlhenwhen the spader is raised and the lever 7 is thrown fully forward itlocks the toggle reversely and the tension of the spring 10 holds thespader and bracket 5 up.

Referring to the modified forni of spader control means shown at on Fig.5, the lifting lever 41 is forked at 42 and the control toffe'le andspring means of Fig. 1 are omitted? Here the disk 4 is mounted sublpractical shape or design.

stantially as in Fig. 3 and operates in substantially the same way.

Referring to Figs. 6 and 7 the spader member differs somewhat fromspader 4 in that it is non-rotatable. It is here shown as octagonal, butit may be of any desired It is carried on a control bracket 52substantially similar to those above described.

Although this invention is variously illustrated, it is to be understoodthat some of the details set forth may be altered or omitted withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention as defined by the followingclaims.

I claim:

1. A mechanical spader comprising a perforated blade, a bearing partsecured thereto for riding on the edge of the form, and a strut forpushing the spader forwardly along the form in spading relation to theconcrete.

2. An edge spader for concrete roads comprising a numerously perforatedconcave disk having a bearing hub to ride upon the top edge of trieconcrete edge form, said hub being on the concave side of the disk, andmeans to propel the disk forwardly in spading relation to the concrete.

A mechanical spider attachment for a concrete road making machine, saidattachment comprising a tiltable frame pivotally attached to the frontedge of said machine and a rotary outwardly concave perforated diskmounted on the front end of said frame and having a. hub member to rideupon the edge form or mold.

4. A device of the class described comprising a tiltable strut pivotallysupported at one end and carrying a spader at its opposite end, incombination with an inclined lifting arm, one en(L of which is alsopivotally mounted and slidable, and the other being pivoted to themiddle part of said strut, and combined spring and toggle leverage meansadjustable to urge the'spider downward and releasable to permit raisingof the spader.

5. In a device of the class described, a spader comprising a concaveperforated disk, a shaft on which said disk is concentrically mounted, aroller member also concentrically mounted on said shaft, and yieldingmeans mounted on said shaft and arranged to urge said disk endwise ofthe shaft against said roller member.

6. The method of spading concrete next to a form which consists inrolling a perforated concave disk forwardly with the concave side of thedisk toward the form.

Signed at Prophetstown this 25th day of June, 1930.

TAYLOR R. CURRY.

